Bulgaria (Part 1)

I've been in touch with the lads from the band Start Today and they've sent me this superb commentary on the hc community in their country.

The scene in Bulgaria is not as developed as me and many others would like it to be. The gigs take place mostly in the capital, Sofia, and the second largest city, Varna (which has the oldest and most developed punk/hc scene in Bulgaria). As for my city, Plovdiv (which is the 3rd largest), we only have 5 active hardcore bands, and not more than 2 gigs a month, imagine that.

The bands in my country are mostly metalcore/beatdown/mosh with the tough attitude, which doesn’t appeal to me at all. But I suppose that has been the trend throughout these years. That is why a great number of the foreign bands that come to play here are of that genre, and play ONLY in the capital (with minor exclusions).

There are two promoters who help foreign bands out in playing here.
Re-Act is the major one which has attracted bands like Agnostic Front, Hatebreed, Sick Of It All and there is also Hcspirit. Hardcore Spirit is also the best Bulgarian punk/hc e-net zine. There are only 2! :D)

There is a sense of community, probably because there are so few bands and we tend to help each other as much as we can. But after all some people are prejudiced to some bands, for example the new ones, and the unknown foreign ones (as strange as it may sound). Not once or twice has this happened - a foreign band is headlining a hc show, the Bulgarian support bands play-great support, almost full venue, kids sing along. When the foreigners go on stage- the club is half empty. I have no idea why this happens. Some people are just prejudiced.

Another odd feature is that some Bulgarian hc kids cry and weep over the internet that they want a specific foreign band to play here, and after a certain time the gig is confirmed. But what happens? Only half of the people expected to attend actually go to the show, and of course the promoters lose a lot of money. But fortunately they don’t lose their spirit and go on inviting cool bands :)

Start Today website